Cable actuated upward acting door



ag in o 4 Sheets-Sheet .1

JOSEPH E. CASSE H J slEss may CA BLE ACTUATED UPWARD ACTING DOOR Filed Sept. 30, 1938 y 21, 1940- H. J. suzss El AL 2,201,636

CABLE ACTUATED UPWARD ACTING DOOR Filed Se pt.. so, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 i 35 F i" .74

IMF-1m- HENRY J 5155: Jose h E. 64555 May 21, 1940. 5,555 H 2,201,636

CABLE ACTUATED UPWARD ACTING DOOR Filed Sept. so, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet s HENRY J. 5/555 JOSEPH E. 0:555

May 21, 1940.

H. J. sn-zss El AL 2,201,636

CABLE ACTUATED UPWARD ACTING DOOR Filed s ept. so, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 :Hlilllllllll Fw 26 i I! I llllH 1, W62.

HENRY J 60535 JOJEPH E. 04555 Patented May 21, 1940 I CABLE ACTUATED UPWARD ACTING DOOR Henry J. Siess and Joseph E. Casse, Detroit, Micln, assignors to Crawford Door Company, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application September 30, 1938, Serial No. 232,525

' 14 Claims.

This invention relates to upward acting closures for openings such as doorways and is more specifically concerned with upward acting garage doors balanced by a winding device mounted 5 above the doorway.

While the invention will hereinafter be specifically described in connection with-garage doors, it should be understood that the devices of this invention are not limited to such use and are 10 adapted for use as closures for any opening in a construction.

According to this invention a winding device is rotatably mounted above a doorway suchas on the lintel of the doorway. This winding device is adapted to wind up a flexible connecting member such as a cable, chain, rope, metal ribbon or the like. The connecting member is secured at -one end to the winding device and extends downwardly from the device along the outer face of the door or closure member. The bottom end of the connecting member is anchored in the bottom portion of the door or closure member.

The winding device is mounted on the inside of the building or other construction defining the 2.; doorway but the cable extending from the device runs along the outer face of the door when the door is in closed vertical position. A groove or notch is preferably formed in the outer face of the door for receiving the cable.

Tracks mounted on the doorway extend laterally into the building defining the doorway on each side of the door. If desired, a single track or mono-rail can be used at the center of the door, in place of the side tracks. These tracks 5 are mounted at the top of the doorway and cooperate with rollers to guide the door from a closed vertical position to an open overhead horizontal position. Since the cable is threaded along the outer face of the door, the door can swing n inwardly into the building to its overhead horizontal position without interfering with the cable.

The winding device is preferably spring operated although it can be operated by. any other prime mover. a

Only a single winding device and flexible connecting member need be used to balance the door or closure.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an upward acting closure structure bals anced by a winding device mounted above the opening that is closed by the closure member.

Another objectof this invention is to provide an upward acting door construction including a single winding device for counterbalancing the' A further object of this invention is to provide an upward acting garage door construction wherein the door is counterbalanced by a single winding device mounted on the lintel of the doorway.

A still further object of the invention is to counterbalance an upward acting door by means of a. single winding device mounted on the lintel of the doorway and connected with the door through a cable. A specific object of the invention is to provide an upward acting garage door construction that is counterbalancedby a lintel mounted winding device through a single cable extending from the winding device along the outer face of the door when the door is in closed position.

. Other and further objects-of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the annexed sheets of drawings which disclose preferred embodiments of the invention.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a broken elevational view of a doorway viewed from the inside thereof and having a door according to this invention mounted therein.

Figure 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view, with parts in vertical cross section, taken along the line II-II of Figure 1 but illustrating the door in partially open and in fully open positions.

Figure 3 is an enlarged horizontal cross-sectional view taken along the line IIr-III of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary and broken elevational view of the lintel portion of the doorway shown in Figure 1 and illustrating in detail the winding device and the track support for the door.

Figure 5 is a broken elevational view of a doorway viewed from the inside thereof and having a modified door according to this invention mounted therein on a pair of tracks extending laterally inward from the door jambs. I

Figure 6 is a broken horizontal cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI of Figure 5.

Figure '7 is a fragmentary horizontal cross-sectional view taken along theline VII-VII of Figure 5. 1

Figure 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view, with parts in elevation, of a doorway equipped with a sectional door closure according to this invention and illustrating the door in opened and also in partially closed position.

Figure 9 is a brokenfragmentary elevational view of the doorway and door shown in Figure 8 and viewed from the inside thereof.

Figure 10 is an enlarged horizontal cross-sectional view taken along the line X-X of Figure 9.

Figure 11 is an enlarged horizontal cross-sectional view taken along the line XI-XI of Figure 9.

As shown on the drawings:

In Figures 1 and 2 the reference numeral I'lldesignates a door adapted to close a doorway ll.

The doorway II is defined by side jambs I2 and I3, a top lintel I4 and a floor F.

A single track member I5 extends inwardly from the doorway above the door opening and is secured to the center of the lintel I4 by means of brackets I6 and II. The inner end of the track I5 can be suspended from the ceiling (not shown).

As best shown in Figure 4, the track I5 is secured to the lintel I4 by means of brackets I6 and I1. As shown, inturned flanges I6a and I'Ia of the brackets I6 and I1 respectively are secured to the track I5 by means of bolts such as I8.

The bottom portion of the track I5 has curved inturned flanges I So and I 5b. These flanges I51: and I5b are in spaced opposed relation and form supports for rollers I9 and 20 respectively. The rollers I9 and 20 are rotatably mounted on the ends of a shaft 2I carried by a link 22.

The link 22 is pivoted on the bracket 23 bolted to the inturned flange 24a of an angle beam 24. The angle beam 24 is secured on the inner face of the door III near the topof the door and extends for a slight distance beyond the sides of the door as shown-at 25 and 26 in Figure 1 so as to abut against the side jambs I2 and I3 of the doorway II.

The bracket 23 extends from the flange 24a of the beam above the top of the door I so that the link 22 can swing in front of the top edge of the door as shown in Figure 2 when the door is in opened position.

The bracket 23 is located in the center of the door in alignment with the track I5. In this modification of the door construction only a single overhead track is used.

A second angle beam 21 is secured on the inner face of the door III near the bottom thereof. This angle member 21, however, terminates short of theysides of the door and has brackets 28 and 29 mounted thereon for forming pivotal connections with link arms 30 and 3| respectively. These link arms 30 and 3I are pivoted at their other ends to supports 32 and 33 secured on the jambs I2 and I3 respectively.

Striker plates 34 and 35 are secured on the side jambs I2 and I3 respectively at the bottom thereof. These plates extend inwardly into the doorway I I to form abutments for the door when the latter is in closed position. A spring urged latch bolt 36 extending from a housing 31 bolted on the door III is adapted to snap over the striker '40 and 4|.

plate 35 for locking the door in closed position. The latch bolt 36 can be operated through a chain 38 extending from a thumb latch 39 mounted through the door. The thumb latch 39 is adapted to pull the latch bolt 36 into the housing 38 so that the door II! can be opened.

Weatherstripping 40 and H is secured on the side jambs I2 and I3 and extends into the doorway II to overlap the edges of the door I0 for closing up the space between the door edges and the jambs. Guide plates 42 and 43 are also secured on the -jambs I2 and I3 above the weatherstrips 40 and M3 These guide plates 42 and 43 have inturned flanges 44 converging toward the bottom of the doorway for centering the door in the doorway as it is lowered to closed position.

The door itself carries additional weatherstrips 45 and 46 extending from the ends 25 and 26 of the angle beam 24 to the tops of the strips These weatherstrips 45 and 46 are adapted to bear against the flanges 44 of the plates 42 and 43 for centering the door.

The outer face of the door has a groove 41.

(Figure 3) extending down the center of the door from the top thereof to the level of the bottom angle beam 21.

A cable 48 is threaded through this groove 41 and extends at its lower end through the door where it is secured to the angle member 21 as at 49.

The other end of the cable 48 is secured to a winding drum 50 which is rotatably mounted around the end of a shaft extendingbetween the bracket I6 and another similar bracket 52 bolted on the lintel I4. p

The winding drum 50 is actuated by a coil spring 53 disposed around the shaft 5|. One end of the spring 53 is secured in the drum 50 while the other end of the spring is flxedly secured by the bracket 52.

The cable 48 is wound around the drum 50 as shown in Figure 4 for pulling the bottom of the door toward the lintel I4 as shown in Figure 2.

When the door is in closed position as shown in Figure 1 the cable 48 extends along the length of the groove 41 in the outer face of the door I0. When the bottom of the door is pushed outwardly after releasing the latch bolt 36 from the striker plate 35, the spring will actuate the winding drum for winding the cable 48 therearound. This will, of course, cause the bottom of the door to swing outwardly and upwardly while the top of the door will slide inwardly along the track I5, being supported by the link and roller connection with the track.

The link arms 30 and 3| serve to pivot the door and aid in guiding the same as it is moved from opened or closed position.

A pull strap 54 can be mounted on the inner face of the door to facilitate a closing of the door from overhead position.

The single winding drum makes a balancing of the door quite easy and the construction of this invention can be made at such a low cost as to be competitive with hinge type doors.

From the above description it should be understood that the modiflcation described in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive includes only a single track and a one-piece door. The track extends horizontally inward from the lintel of the doorway at the center of the doorway.

In the modification of the invention shown in Figures 5 to 7, .two doors are bolted together and pairs of tracks are used for guiding the doors. These tracks are mounted on the side door jambs of the doorway.

In Figures 5 to 7 inclusive, parts identical with parts described in Figures 1 to 4 have been marked with the same reference numerals.

As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the door opening II is closed by means of a door 60. The door 60 is composed of two vertical sections 6% and 60b in abutting relation along their inner edges. The door sections 60a and 60b are rigidly secured together by the angle beams 24 and 21 and also by means of additional metal bars GI and 62 bolted on the inner faces of the doors. Each bar BI and 62 extends for a distance beyond the abutting edges of the door sections.

Before the door sections 6811 and 60!) are secured together they are beveled on the outer faces thereof along their inner edges as at 63 and 64 to form a groove 65 for receiving the cable 48. v

In this construction, two regular garage doors of four-foot width can be bolted together to form a one-piece closure member for an eightfoot opening.

The side jambs I2 and I3 have brackets 66 and 81 bolted thereon near the top of the doorway. These brackets 66 and 81 support horizontal tracks 88 and 89 respectively. The tracks 88 and 89 extend laterally inwardly of the building and can be supported on their inner ends from the ceiling of the building.

Each track 68 and 88 has a curved .bottom portion 10 for supporting rollers H and 12. The rollers H and 12 are rotatably mounted on shaft extensions 13a and Ma. of brackets 13 and 14.

The brackets 13 and 14 are bolted on the end portions of the flange 24a of the angle beam 24. The door 60 is thus counterbalanced by means of the spring-actuated winding drum 58 and is guided from a vertical closed position to a horizontal open position by means of the link arms.

38 and 3| and the horizontal tracks 88 and 68. The door 68 operates in the samemanner as the door l8 described in Figures 1 to 4 but, instead of being composed of one piece, is formed from two separate sections and, instead of being supported on a single track at the center of the door, it is supported on tracks located at the sides of the door.

In the modification of the invention illustrated in Figures 8 to 11 inclusive, the door opening II is closed by a door 88 comprising a plurality of horizontal door sections 88a, 80b, 88c and 80d. These door sections 88a, 80b, 80c and 88d are joined together by means of hinges 8| secured on the inner faceof the .sections atthe ends thereof. The hinge pins 82 for the hinges 89 extend laterally beyond the edges of the door and receive rollers 83 in rotatable relation on their ends.

Additional brackets 84 are secured at the bottom of the lower section 88a and also at the top of the upper section 88d at the edges of these sections. These brackets 84 support the shafts 82 of additional rollers 83.

The door jambs I2 and I3 carry vertical tracks opposed relation with their open sides facing the door opening H. 4

The tops of the tracks 85 and 88 receive arcuate track sections 88 and 89 thereon. These track sections 88 and 89 curve inwardly into the building and away from the door jambs. Horizontal tracks 90 and 8! communicate with the inner ends of the track sections 88 and 89 respectively.

The rollers 83 ride in the tracks to guide the door from a closed vertical position to an open overhead horizontal position.

Strips of door stoppings 92 are secured to the door jambs I2 and i3 and to the lintel it along the inner edges of the jambs and lintel. The door stoppings 92, as best shown in Figure l8, extend beyond the jambs and also beyond the lintel (Figure 8) toward the inside of the building. The door 88 thus abuts against the stopping 92 and no additional Weatherstripping is needed.

As best shown in Figure 11 the outer face of the door 80 has a vertical groove 93 extending from the top thereof to receive the actuating cable 48. The cable 88 is anchored at 94 (Figure 8) near'the bottom of the lower door section 88a.

The single winding drum 50 thus counterbalances the door sections and facilitates the opening and closing of the door.

Figures 8 to 11 inclusive therefore illustrate the principles of this invention applied to a sectional type door.

.We are aware that many changes may be made and numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and we,

therefore, do not purpose limiting the' patent necting member secured on said winding device l.

at one end and secured to the bottom portion ofthe door at the other end, said flexible connecting member extending along the outer face of the door in said vertical groove when the door is in closed position and adapted to be wound around the winding device as the door is opened, means forguiding said door from a vertical closed position to a horizontal overhead position and spring means for actuating said winding device to counterbalance the door, said spring means resisting reverse rotation of the winding device to check movement of the closure beyond a desired open position.

2. In a building having a doorway defined by side door jambs and a lintel, a winding device mounted on the lintel at the center of the doorway, a cable adapted to be wound on said device, a one-piece door for closing the doorway, said door having a vertical groove in the outer face thereof for receiving the cable, means securing the end of the cable to the bottom portion of the door, a spring acting on said winding device torotate the device for winding the cable therearound to counterbalance the weight of the door and means secured to said side door jambs for guiding the door as it is raised from a closed position.

3. In a building having doorway defined by a lintel and side door jambs, a track secured to said lintel at the center of the doorway and extending laterally into the building, a door for closing said doorway, a link pivoted to the top of the door at the center thereof, a roller rotatably carried by said link engageable in said track, a winding device rotatably mounted on said lintel at the center of the doorway, a cable adapted to be wound on said winding device and secured at one end to the device, means securing the other end of the cable to the bottom portion of the door, a goove in the outer face of the door adapted to receive the cable therein whenthe door is in closed position, and a spring for actuating said winding device to counterbalance the weight of the door as the roller moves along the track.

4. In a building having a doorway defined by side door jambs and a lintel, a door for closing said doorway, a beam extending horizontally across the top portion of the inner face of the door into abutting relation with the door jambs when the door is in closed position, a bracket secured on said beam at the center thereof, 'a link pivotally connected with said bracket, a shaft at the end of said link, rollers mounted on the ends of the shaft on each side of said link, a track secured to the lintel at the center of the doorway and extending laterally into the building, said track having inwardly curved spaced opposed bottom flanges receiving said rollers thereon, a winding device rotatably mounted on the lintel at the center of the doorway, a cable secured at one end to said winding device, a vertical groove in the outer face of the food adapted to receive said cable therein, means anchoring the other end of the cable to the bottom portion of the door, and a spring for actuating said winding device to wind the cable therearound for counterbalancing the door.

5. In a building having a doorway defined by side door jambs and a lintel, a pulley rotatably mounted on said lintel at the center of the doorway, a cable secured at one end to said pulley and adapted to be wound therearound, a spring for rotating the pulley to wind the cable therearound, a pair of vertical door sections in abutting relation, said door sections being beveled on the outer faces thereof along the abutting edges, means rigidly uniting said door sections to close the doorway, said means including a horizontal beam extending across the inner face of the door at the top thereof into abutting relation with the inner face of the door jamb, and means for guilding said door from a horizontal closed position to an overhead open position.

6. In an upward acting door construction for a doorway having side door jambs and a lintel, a door for closing said doorway, a beam extending across the inner face of the door near the top thereof, the ends of said beam projecting beyond the sides of the door and adapted to abut against the inner faces of the door jambs, rollers carried by said beam ends, tracks receiving said rollers to guide the door from a closed vertical position to an open overhead hori-' zontal position, a winding device rotatably mounted on the lintel of the doorway and a cable secured to said door and adapted to be wound around said winding device for raising the door to overhead position.

'7. An upward acting door comprising a pair of vertical door sections in abutting relation, means secured across the inner face of the door holding said sections in rigid assembly, the outer face of said door being beveled along the abutting edges thereof to define a vertical groove along the outer face of the door. and a door actuating flexible means seated in said groove when said door is in closed position.

8. In a building having a doorway, a door for closing said doorway comprising a plurality of hinged-together horizontal sections, said door having a vertical groove in the outer face thereof, vertical tracks secured to the inner faces of the door jambs, rollers carried by said door sections extending into said tracks, curved track sections cooperating with the vertical tracks at the top of the doorway, horizontal track sections extending laterally into the building and cooperating with the tops of the curved track sections, a winding device rotatably mounted on the lintel of the doorway at the middle of the doorway, a cable secured at one end to said winding device and trained along the outer face of the door in said groove, means anchoring the other end of the cable to the bottom section of the door and a spring for rotating the device for winding the cable therearound to counterbalance the weight of the door whereby the door sections will be moved upwardly along the tracks from a closed vertical position to an open overhead position.

9. In a construction having an opening and an upward acting closure for said opening, said closure having a central vertical groove in its outer face, the improvements which comprise a winding member rotatably mounted on said construction above the opening at the center of the opening, flexible means trained in said vertical groove having one end thereof anchored on said winding member and the other end thereof anchored on said closure, and means for rotating the winding member to wind the flexible means thereon for counterbalancing the closure.

10. An upward acting closure for a doorway comprising a door mounted for movement from a closed vertical position in the doorway to an overhead open position at an angle to the doorway, said door having a central vertical groove on the outer face thereof, a cable extending from the top of the doorway to the lower portion of the door and trained in said groove along the outer face of the door, and spring means actuating said cable to counterbalance the door.

11. In an upward acting door construction for a doorway having side door jambs and a lintel, a door for closing said doorway, a beam extending across'the inner face of the door near the top thereof, the ends of said beam projecting beyond the sides of the door and adapted to abut against the inner faces of the door jambs, rollers carried by said beam ends, tracks receiving said rollers to guide the door from a closed vertical position to an open overhead horizontal position, a sheave rotatably mounted on the lintel of the doorway, flexible means extending from the bottom of the door along the outer face thereof around said sheave, and spring counterbalancing means actuating said flexible means to move the bottom portion of the door toward said sheave and to move said rollers along said tracks away from said doorway.

12. In an upward acting door construction for a doorway having side door jambs, a door for closing said doorway, a beam extending across the inner face of the door near the top thereof, the ends of said beam projecting beyond the sides of the door and adapted to abut against the inner faces of the door jambs, rollers carried by said beam ends, tracks receiving said rollers to guide the door from a closed vertical position to an open overhead horizontal position and actuating means for operating said door.

13. An upward acting door construction for a doorway, comprising a door for closing said doorway, said door having a vertical groove in the outer face thereof, and a door actuating flexible means seated in said groove when the door is in closed position.

14. In an upward acting door assembly for a doorway construction, a door for closing the doorway, a beam extending across the inner face of the door near the top thereof, the ends of said beam projecting beyond the sides of the door and adapted to thrust against the doorway construction, rollers carried by said beam ends, tracks receiving said rollers to guide the door from closed to open positions, and actuating means for operating said door.

,HENRY J. SIESS.

JOSEPH E. CASSE.. 

